Fireplace door



J. A. GOUDY FIREPLACE DOOR March 12, 1968 3 Sheets-Sh t 1 INVENTOR. JAMES A. GOUDY ATTORNEY L E C E FIG. 4

Filed Aug. 6, 1965 Filed Aug. 6, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm M mt mm A m V W w S A E M a Y B O 6 A A A A March 12, 1968 J. A. GOUDY FIREPLACE DOOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 6, 1965 o m 3 m 6 /H v I 0 mm 4 7 j 1 W ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,372,689 Patented Mar. 12, 1968 3,372,689 FIREPLACE DOOR James A. Goudy, Akron, Ohio, assignor to Heritage Fireplace Equipment Co., Tallmadge, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 6, 1965, Ser. No. 477,702 1 Claim. (Cl. 126--140) The invention relates to an outwardly folding, panelled, glass fireplace door.

The door is composed of hinged panels, usually with two panels at one side hinged together and two panels at the other side hinged together, and with the two end panels pivotally supported in the fireplace opening, so that by folding the hinged panels outwardly a space is opened between them to provide access to the interior of the fireplace for supplying fuel to the fire, cleaning the fireplace or for any other purpose. Panel doors which operate generally, in this fashion, are known.

Such doors as now constructed are difficult to keep clean. It is almost impossible to reach the entire inner surface of the doors for cleaning. Furthermore, there is generally sufiicient space above and below each door to provide cracks through which the inside of the fireplace is visible when the doors are closed. Also, when the doors are open, they often do not close easily.

The inner edges of the top and bottom of the doors of this invention are provided with projections which follow in one-piece tracks at the top and bottom of the fireplace opening. The exposed end of at least one end of these projections at the inner edge of each door is retractable so that it can be released from engagement with the track and the inner panel of each door can be swung out into the room on the hinges. The inner surfaces of all four panels are thus made easily accessible for cleaning.

An integral extension on the inner wall of each track prevents the interior of the fireplace from being visible from the outside.

Furthermore, the tracks are advantageously provided with guide means which insure that the doors are opened in such a way that they can readily be closed again.

The invention is further described in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of the front of a fireplace with folding glass doors in the opening thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a detail of the same with two panels of one door opened outwardly;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section on the line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fore-shortened vertical section, on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2, at the outer edge of one of the doors showing how it is pivoted in the opening;

FIGURE 6 is an elevational view of the top of the inner surface of one of the doors near its inner edge on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical section on the line 7--7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a view looking up at the top of the fireplace opening at its right side, on the line 88 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 9 is a view of the track at the left side looking up at the top of the opening; and

FIGURE 10 is a section at the right side of the top of the opening on the line 10-10 of FIGURE 1.

The closure for the fireplace opening includes the frame 1, the bottom of which is perforated with openings 2 to provide a draft. The handle 3 is connected with the slide (not shown) which is adapted to control the extent to which a draft is permitted to enter the openings 2.

There are two doors-one composed of the panels 5 and 6 and the other composed of the panels 7 and 8. The mountings of the doors are identical. They are pivoted in the fireplace opening at their outer edges, and their inner edges are provided with projecting rods 9 which move within the channel-shaped tracks 10 and 11 when the doors are opened and closed. Handles 12 are provided to facilitate the outward opening and the closing of the doors. These handles may be of any suitable design. The panels of each door are hinged together on the inner surface at 15.

Each of the four glass panels is mounted in the frame 1, the sides of which are of any suitable construction. The top of the frame is formed with angles 20 and 21 (FIGURES 3 and 5) which are welded or otherwise suitably fastened to the sides of the frame 22; bottom angles 24 and 25 are fastened to the sides of the frame by welding or in any other suitable manner. FIGURE 3 illustrates how these angles are fastened to a frame 28 which fits the inside of the fireplace opening. The angles 20 and 24 define the top and bottom of the opening in the frame in which the doors operate.

This frame is covered with thin sheet metal which may be brass, stainless steel or the like. The sides of the frame are covered in any usual manner. As shown in FIGURES 3 and 5, the sheet metal 30 covers the top and front of the frame, is bent in to form the track 10 at the top of the frame, and is then bent down to form the integral shroud 32 in back of the doors to prevent a crack showing above the doors. The structure is similar at the bottom where the integral portion 35 of the sheet metal covers the bottom of the angle structure, and is bent up to cover the frame below the opening. The draft openings 2 are located here. The sheet metal is then bent in to form the bottom track 11, and extends upwardly at 38 behind the doors to form a shroud which prevents a crack from showing under the doors.

The pivot rods 45, at the outer edge of each door are engaged in openings in the angles 20, 24, and 25. Ordinarily these rods are stationary and the panels 5 and 8 swing about them. FIGURE 5 shows the rod passing through an edge channel 46 in the frame 48 which surrounds the glass in panel 8. Collar 50 supports the frame 48 .and the panel swings easily because it is supported on the small area at the top of this channel.

The inner edges of panels 6 and 7 are provided at the top and bottom, respectively, by retractable stud rods 9 (FIGURES 3, 6 and 7) which project into the tracks 10 and 11, and can be withdrawn from them. These rods are fastened in slides 52 which are accommodated in channels 54 in the inner edges of the frames of panels 6 and 7. Screws 55 which are threaded in these slides project from the inner surfaces of the panels and are movable vertically in slots 58 and 59 at the top and bottom of these channels to project the rods 9 into the tracks and retract them into the panels. Lance 60 prevents the lower slide in each door from dropping down into the channel should screw 55 be removed from the lower slide.

The rods 9 slide in tracks 10 and 11 which are formed in the shrouds 32 and 38, by otfsetting the top and bottom of each of these shrouds outwardly to narrow the track and yet provide room for the inner edges of the doors to clear the shrouds as the doors are opened. By narrowing the tracks, the pin is guided in a confined path, and the door never contacts the shroud as it is opened and closed, the only contact of the movable portions of the door assemblies with the frame assembly being between the pins 9 and the tracks 10 and 11.

The upper rods 9 slide in track 10 across the top of the opening. This upper track is provided with cams 65, the walls 66 of which extend out into the track a gradually increasing distance toward each end of the track. The bottom 67 of the cam is riveted at 69 or otherwise fastened to the bottom surface '70 of that portion of the frame which is bent inwardly from the edge of the track. Because of this cam, the short rods 9 do not slide in a straight line between the pivots 45, but as rods 9 approach pivots 45 they are pushed forward. Consequently, the folded panels do not project perpendicularly from the front of the fireplace, but slant outwardly a few degrees. (FIGURE 8.) As a result, the panels can always be closed smoothly, to cover the fireplace opening, whereas when they fold out perpendicularly when open, this is not always true.

When it is desired to clean the inner surface of the panels, the screws 55 at the tops and bottoms of the two inner panels are moved vertically toward one another retracting the respective short rods 9 from the tracks 1% and 37. The inner panels can then be swung out into the room (as illustrated in FIGURE 2 with respect to panels 7 and 8). The inner surface of the panels are thus made easily accessible for cleaning.

The invention is covered in the claims which follow.

What I claim is:

1. In a fireplace with a front Opening and doors each comprising a plurality of foldable panels hinged at their respective outer edges to opposite edges of the opening, and a track at the top and bottom of the opening, with projectable means in the top and bottom of the inside edge of each innermost door panel engageable in and disengageable from the respective tracks, the improvement in which each track is a portion of a one-piece shroud-and-track-forming trim which includes opposed channel-shaped track means, each of which is spaced vertically from the nearest horizontal edge of the doors when closed over the opening so as to provide a slit opening between the doors and the trim, with cams near the respective ends of at least one of said track means to move the projectable means when projected into the track outwardly as it approaches an end of the track, each of said shroud-and-track-forming trims being formed of a single sheet of metal and comprising as integral parts thereof: (1) trim means bent back vertically from the front edge of the track and covering a face of the fireplace adjacent said opening, and (2) a shroud which is horizontally offset inward from the inside edge of each of said tracks and prevents the interior of the fireplace from being visible from the front of the fireplace through either of said slit openings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 845,418 2/1907 Johnson 160206 2,707,946 5/1955 Merryweather et al. 126-140 2,841,219 7/1958 Helwig 160ll8 3,015,359 1/1962 Ogburn 160-206 3,170,506 2/1965 Johnson 160206 FREDERICK KETTERER, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A FIREPLACE WITH A FRONT OPENING AND DOORS EACH COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF FOLDABLE PANELS HINGED AT THEIR RESPECTIVE OUTER EDGES TO OPPOSITE EDGES OF THE OPENING, AND A TRACK AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE OPENING, WITH PROJECTABLE MEANS IN THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE INSIDE EDGE OF EACH INNERMOST DOOR PANEL ENGAGEABLE IN AND DISENGAGEABLE FROM THE RESPECTIVE TRACKS, THE IMPROVEMENT IN WHICH EACH TRACK IS A PORTION OF A ONE-PIECE SHROUD-AND-TRACK-FORMING TRIM WHICH INCLUDES OPPOSED CHANNEL-SHAPED TRACK MEANS, EACH OF WHICH IS SPACED VERTICALLY FROM THE NEAREST HORIZONTAL EDGE OF THE DOORS WHEN CLOSED OVER THE OPENING SO AS TO PROVIDE A SLIT OPENING BETWEEN THE DOORS AND THE TRIM, WITH CAMS NEAR THE RESPECTIVE ENDS OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID TRACK MEANS TO MOVE THE PROJECTABLE MEANS WHEN PROJECTED INTO THE TRACK OUTWARDLY AS IT APPROACHES AN END OF THE TRACK, EACH OF SAID SHROUD-AND-TRACK-FORMING TRIMS BEING FORMED OF A SINGLE SHEET OF METAL AND COMPRISING AS INTEGRAL PARTS THEREOF: (1) TRIM MEANS BENT BACK VERTICALLY FROM THE FRONT EDGE OF THE TRACK AND COVERING A FACE OF THE FIRE- 